The University of Gloucestershire offer multiple sports, some less popular in the UK, where students can try out new sports and meet new people at the same time. One of these sports is water polo, where Team GB were the winners in the first four Olympic Games.
UoG player Lee Burgess joined the team this year, in order to find out what the sport is about. “I tried out because it was something new and interesting. I wanted to try out an exciting sport that I have never done before. I have heard of it, and it just appealed to me.”
On top of trying out a new sport, another reason to join is to compete in a team sport. “It is great because you can collaborate with others. You have to work as a team and you can reap to rewards with your teammates, which makes it better.”
Water polo is a sport where not only you have to stay on the edge to compete against your opponent, you also have to be physically capable to be competitive at the same time.
“It keeps you physically and mentally fit as well. It’s not just a physical game, but you have to stay concentrated And you have to have good reflexes and reactions. With those skills, I can stay sharper in life, and in general it helps your physical and mental ability in life.
“When I started practising, it made me more interested in the sport, because when I experienced it, I got to understand the difficulty of it.”
At the moment, Burgess has the chance to practice the new sport first and get the basics in, as the team are currently unable to compete because of the lack of players. “I am looking forward to competing, but unfortunately we don’t have enough players at the moment. However, it is beneficial in a way to get some practice in so once compete, I will be ready.”
Trying out a new sport can help its popularity, but the university player is yet to find a favourite team. “As I haven’t played a match, I’m yet to have the full experience, but once I do, I will also become more interested in watching the game as I will have a better understanding of it. If Team GB manage to qualify for the Olympics, I will support them, but it will also better to watch it with this new knowledge.”
GB senior women have been working hard in Walsall as preparations for next month’s European Championships in Eindhoven continue.
— England Water Polo (@ENGWaterPolo) December 10, 2023
Nick Buller’s squad head out to Hungary next week for a camp.
Great to see Toula Falvey training with the team, straight from her game in Barcelona! pic.twitter.com/vZ9XHE3reY
The men’s team have failed to qualify for the games in Paris, but the women’s team still have an outside shot of making the tournament, depending their result at the European Championship in Netherlands the beginning of January and at the World Championship in Doha in February.
Click here to follow all our sporting updates today.
